1. Field of the Invention
This invention provides method and apparatus for covering a tree with a flexible covering. In one regard, it relates to supporting netting over a fruit tree to protect the fruit from birds. In another, it relates to supporting a thermal shroud over a tree to protect its buds and blossoms from damage by frost.
2. Background Information
Protective netting has been available for many years under tradenames such as Bird Block, BirdBGone and Bird-X for use over fruit trees, and particularly over cherry trees. Cherries are very vulnerable to birds and provide a nice dessert to their otherwise mundane diets. Birds often strip a tree of all its cherries long before they become fully ripe for picking.
Nets are cumbersome to place onto a tree and are cumbersome to remove. Some net suppliers have suggested using a pole to place a net over a tree. Some users have rolled the netting into two parallel rolls so that the rolls can be placed over a tree, and the netting subsequently unrolled. Because the small outer limbs and fruit can become entangled in the netting, the net must be carefully lifted and pulled into place, which can strip fruit off the tree. This problem occurs during both placement and removal of the netting.
In many prior art fruit protection arrangements, the weight of the netting is supported by the branches of the tree, thus pulling down small branches to give a xe2x80x9cweeping willowxe2x80x9d effect if the nets are in place for a long time.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,948, Daniel teaches an arrangement for protecting a plant that involves a large number of custom-designed components which must be custom-manufactured at considerable expense.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,953, Morgan describes a collapsible protective plant cover that uses a center pole, spokes and coaxial support rings of spring steel to support a flexible plant covering. A feature of this system is an arrangement for collapsing the support rings for storage. Like the Daniel patent, Morgan""s device involves custom-manufactured components that are of a fixed size and that do not accommodate growth of the plant.
One aspect of the invention is that it provides a kit for assembly into a support for a covering for a tree having a predetermined tree height, a predetermined tree diameter and a calculated tree circumference. A preferred embodiment of this kit may be used with a rigid tubular member having a length that is at least three quarters and not more than one and one half times the tree height; a flexible tubular member having two ends and having a length that is at least one half the tree circumference and not more than one and one half times the tree circumference; and at least four spoke members, each having a respective length that is at least one third of the tree diameter and not more than three quarters of the tree diameter. The preferred kit comprises a plurality of fittings used to interconnect the various tubular elements. These preferably comprise at least one central fitting slidably interfitting over an upper end of the rigid tubular member. Each central fitting has a center pole socket for receiving the center pole and at least two transverse sockets having an internal diameter selected to slidably fit about a respective central or proximal end of one of the spoke members. In addition, there are at least three through-tee fittings, each of which has an axial throughhole large enough for the flexible tubular member to pass entirely through the fitting. Each through-tee fitting also has a side arm tee socket disposed transverse to the axial throughhole and having a diameter selected to slidably fit about a respective distal end of one of the spoke members. A circumferential fitting that is preferably a tube coupling but that may be a tee fitting is used to receive both of the two ends of the flexible tubular member in respective openings so as to form a circular wheel-like portion of the support.
Another aspect of the invention is that it provides a method of placing a flexible cover over a tree having a predetermined tree height, a predetermined tree diameter and a calculated tree circumference, where the flexible cover is selected to be substantially larger than the tree diameter. This method preferably comprises the steps of:
a) sliding a selected number, equal to or greater than three, of through-tee fittings onto a flexible tubular member having two ends and having a length substantially equal to the tree circumference;
b) bending the flexible tube to form a support wheel having a wheel circumference substantially equal to the tree circumference and then attaching the two ends of the flexible tube together by the use of a circumferential fitting that is either a tube coupling or a tee fitting;
c) connecting each of the through-tee fittings to an associated central fitting by means of a respective spoke member,
d) folding the flexible cover, preferably along two parallel lines so as to define three panels having approximately the same width;
e) placing the folded cover on a working surface so that the central panel of the flexible cover is uppermost and so that the rest of the flexible cover is disposed beneath the central panel;
f) placing the support wheel on the central portion of the flexible cover and attaching the central panel of the cover to the support wheel at three or more places along the circumference of the wheel;
g) inserting one end of a rigid center pipe into or through a respective hole in each of the central fittings, where the center pipe may pass through one or more proximal central fittings before being inserted into a blind hole in a central cap fitting;
h) inverting the center pipe so as to define an assembly comprising a folded flexible cover draped across a horizontally disposed support wheel supported by the vertically disposed center pipe;
i) conveying that assembly towards the tree until the center pipe is adjacent the trunk of the tree;
j) fastening the center pipe to the trunk of the tree by lashing or other suitable means; and
k) unfolding the flexible cover so as to drape the flexible cover over the tree.
One aspect of the present invention is that it provides for easy assembly, easy placement, and easy disassembly of a protective cover for a tree.
Another aspect of preferred embodiments of the invention is that they provide an opportunity for the user to increase the size of the protective device to accommodate growth of a tree. This is done by simply adding couplings and pipe sections as described below.
Preferred embodiments of the present device differ from the prior art in being assembled from light-weight plastic parts many of which are conventionally available at low cost.
A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a kit of special parts to permit assembly of a device for supporting a tree covering and a process for use of the device.
A preferred embodiment of the present device is configured as a wheel attached to a vertical center pole that holds the wheel in a horizontal position, similar to an umbrella. Netting or other flexible covering is attached to the wheel prior to placement over a tree. The diameter of the wheel is made approximately equal to the largest horizontal diameter of the tree, and the pole is made approximately equal to the height of the tree. The netting or other flexible covering should preferably be of dimensions sufficiently large to fully cover both the support apparatus and the tree, which means that its minimum dimension can be equal to twice the height of the tree plus the diameter of the tree. Alternately, a netting with a width one and six tenths times the diameter of the tree and a length equal to the sum of twice the height plus the diameter can be used if its edges are attached to one another after placement over the tree.
A preferred kit of this invention comprises special plastic pipe fittings to which commercial plastic pipe and fittings are added to make the complete device. The special fittings of this kit are custom-sized to slip over commercial polyethylene irrigation pipe and over PVC pipe, thus providing for a low-cost support for the netting.
Preferred embodiments of the present device also hold the netting surrounding the tree so that fruit near the tree circumference is better protected from predators than by a net supported by the tree and pulled tightly against the outer branches by its own weight
Although it is believed that the foregoing rather broad recital of features and technical advantages may be of use to one who is skilled in the art and who wishes to learn how to practice the invention, it will be recognized that the foregoing recital is not intended to list all of the features and advantages. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that they may readily use both the underlying ideas and the specific embodiments disclosed herein as a basis for designing other arrangements for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will realize that such equivalent constructions are within the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form. Moreover, it may be noted that various embodiments of the invention may provide various combinations of the hereinbefore recited features and advantages of the invention, and that less than all of the recited features and advantages may be provided by some embodiments.